title: Up-regulation of microRNA* strands by their target transcripts.
abstract: During microRNA (miRNA) biogenesis, one strand of a 21-23 nucleotide RNA duplex is preferentially selected for entry into an RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). The other strand, known as the miRNA* species, is typically thought to be degraded. Previous studies have provided miRNA* selection models, but it remains unclear how the dominance of one arm arises during the biogenesis of miRNA. Using miRNA sponge-like methods, we cloned four tandem target sequences (artificial target) of miR-7b* and then measured miR-7b* expression levels after transfection of the artificial target. miR-7b* levels were found to significantly increase after transfection of the artificial target. We postulate that the abundance of target transcripts drives miRNA arm selection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Microbiology, School of Dentistry, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 700-412, Korea. heonlee@knu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Sung-Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Ji-Woong
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Su-Hyung
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Heon-Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000378:metabolism; D034743:RNA-Induced Silencing Complex; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D034743:RNA-Induced Silencing Complex